Chest Pain

ARTICLES ABOUT CHEST PAIN BY DATE - PAGE 5

A Chicago firefighter was hospitalized and 11 people were displaced Sunday by a fire at an apartment building in West Garfield Park, officials said. The firefighter was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge with chest pain. His condition wasn't life-threatening, Fire Department spokesman Josh Dennis said. The fire, in the 200 block of North Kolmar Avenue, started about midnight Saturday and was out by 12:36 a.m. Sunday, Dennis said. No one else was injured.

Bruce Weber's scratchy, high-pitched voice became unusually soft Monday during his weekly news conference. The Illinois basketball coach was asked if he was weary, and it became evident the sadness over his mother's death on Friday, combined with the roller-coaster emotions of coaching the nation's top-ranked team, will take a toll on Weber by season's end. "I'm just trying to survive," Weber said. "I guess you could call it punch drunk." Weber's mother, Dawn, 81, died of a ruptured aorta Friday at Rush University Medical Center with Weber and other family members at the hospital.

By William Hathaway, Tribune Newspapers: The Hartford Courant | February 27, 2005

People who experience little or no chest pain during a heart attack are more likely to die from the attack, according to a study published in the journal Chest. A group of international researchers studied heart attack data from more than 20,000 patients in 14 countries, including the United States. Of the 1,763 cardiac patients who did not experience chest pain, 13 percent died in the hospital, compared with 4.3 percent of those who experienced chest pain. "While the majority of people who have acute coronary syndromes, such as heart attacks and unstable angina, feel chest pain, some do not but instead may experience symptoms of fainting, shortness of breath, excessive sweating or nausea and vomiting," said David Briegger, lead author of the study from Concord Hospital in Sydney, Australia.

By William Hathaway, Tribune Newspapers: The Hartford Courant | August 15, 2004

People who experience little or no chest pain during a heart attack are more likely to die from the attack, according to a study published in the journal Chest. A group of international researchers studied heart attack data from more than 20,000 patients in 14 countries, including the United States. Of the 1,763 cardiac patients who did not experience chest pain, 13 percent died in the hospital, compared with 4.3 percent of those who experienced chest pain. "While the majority of people who have acute coronary syndromes, such as heart attacks and unstable angina, feel chest pain, some do not but instead may experience symptoms of fainting, shortness of breath, excessive sweating or nausea and vomiting," said David Briegger, lead author of the study from Concord Hospital in Sydney, Australia.

Heart disease patients are much less likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die of those ailments if they take high doses of a commonly used cholesterol-lowering drug, according to a new study that many experts are calling a landmark. The study is likely to prompt doctors to give much higher doses of the drugs to patients who already have heart problems. "It's a really, really important study," said Frank Sacks, a professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at the Harvard School of Public Health, who was not involved in the research.

A small clinical trial has shown for the first time that it is possible to use drugs to remove plaque from clogged arteries, a finding that could lead to new ways to treat heart disease, the No. 1 killer in the United States. Infusion of a genetically engineered form of high-density lipoprotein, often called "good cholesterol" or HDL, over a five-week period was shown to reduce plaque in patients suffering from chest pain. "This is an extraordinary and unprecedented finding," said Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, who led the study reported in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Waukegan's police chief collapsed in the snow near his squad car Tuesday night and died hours after training for a charity boxing event and complaining of chest pains. Miguel Juarez, 50, the city's first Hispanic police chief and a 24-year veteran of the force, was known as a community-minded leader who encouraged officers to break down racial barriers and work together. "He was a hell of a cop and a hell of a chief," said Mayor Richard Hyde. "Some guys are good cops and poor chiefs, but this guy was good at both."

Doctors have won federal approval of a new blood test to help them tell which patients suffering chest pain are not having a heart attack. Up to 5 million people go to U.S. emergency rooms each year complaining of chest pain, but only about 1 in 5 is having a heart attack, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Other ailments, from severe indigestion to gallstones, can mimic a heart attack--and up to half of chest-pain patients have atypical symptoms or test results that make diagnosis a challenge, said Dr. Steven Gutman, the FDA's chief of clinical tests.

Q. My mother has just been diagnosed as having a leaky heart valve. For some time now she has been short of breath. She also has been in great pain when either standing longer than 15 minutes or walking about. If she does not sit or bend, the pain becomes unbearable. Could these severe pains that come and go be related to the leaky valve? --S.D. A. Leaky heart valves do not cause pain directly, but they may result in additional disease of the heart that can cause chest pain.

Q. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I want to buy prescription drugs without the hassle of a doctor's visit and expensive pharmacy pricing. I get advertisements all the time on my computer. Is this OK to do? --C.O., Decatur, Ill. A. No. Web pharmacies promise hassle-free service and deep discounts. But purchasing medication from an illegitimate Web site might leave you with contaminated or counterfeit products, an outdated drug, the wrong drug or an incorrect dose. Do I need to mention you might receive nothing but a credit card charge?